Congress-TMC planned to prevent Shah, Rajnath from speaking in RS: BJP
New Delhi, Aug 1 : The BJP on Wednesday accused the Congress and the TMC of "murdering democracy" by devising a strategy to disrupt Rajya Sabha proceedings to prevent Home Minister Rajnath Singh and BJP President Amit Shah from speaking on the NRC issue.
Accusing the two opposition parties of evading a debate over the National Register of Citizens issue in Assam, the Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) also asked the Congress to clarify its stand on the matter.
"Today Shahji and Rajnathji were not allowed to speak in the Rajya Sabha. This was a planned strategy by the opposition. The Congress and the TMC don't want to let the house run," BJP leader Prakash Javadekar told the media here.
"The Congress and the TMC have murdered democracy," he alleged, adding that in the Rajya Sabha, its Chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu had asked Shah to complete his speech that remained incomplete due to disruptions in the house on Tuesday.
He said that about 20 members spoke on Tuesday. "But when the BJP and the government wanted to speak the Congress and the TMC created a ruckus and we condemn it," he said.
"Even Chairman Naidu said that he sees a conspiracy in the agitation by opposition members and their attempt to stall the proceedings," Javadekar said.
"What do the Congress and TMC fear? Why are they running away from discussion? Why dont they want to listen to replies? Whom do they want to save?"
Earlier, BJP President was scheduled to continue his incomplete speech in the Rajya Sabha but prevented due to ruckus created by the opposition members over the NRC.
Slamming West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Javadekar said: "We know what Banerjee wants. She is opposing the NRC; she is in favour of the infiltrators."
Earlier in the day, TMC member Sukhendu Shekhar Roy raised a point of order and said that as per the rules of conduct of the upper house, a member cannot speak twice on the same issue if he fails to complete his speech in the first instance.
But his point of order was rejected by the Chairman, who said he had given Shah permission to complete his speech and asked the BJP chief to continue.
As the TMC members continued with the protest and did not let Rajnath Singh speak, Naidu adjourned the house for the day.
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Assam to lift all cases against Koch Rajbongshis in Foreigners' Tribunals: CM Himanta Biswa Sarma
Guwahati, Apr 4 (PTI): The Assam cabinet has decided to lift all cases pending against people from the Koch Rajbongshi community in the Foreigners' Tribunals, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Friday.
They will also no longer carry the tag of 'D' or doubtful voters, he said.
''There are 28,000 cases pending in different Foreigners' Tribunals in the state against people of the community. The cabinet has taken a historic decision of lifting the cases with immediate effect,'' Sarma said at a press conference here after the cabinet meeting.
The government believes that the Koch Rajbongshis are an indigenous community of the state and they are an inextricable part of ''our social and cultural fabric'', he asserted.
The people of this community are poor and have suffered a lot over the years, he said.
''They will no longer carry the tag of foreigners or ‘D’ voters,'' the CM said.
Foreigners Tribunals are quasi-judicial bodies, particularly in Assam, established to determine if a person residing in India is a "foreigner" as defined by the Foreigners Act of 1946, based on the Foreigners (Tribunals) Order of 1964.
These tribunals are designed to address matters related to citizenship and the presence of “foreigners” in India, specifically focusing on cases where someone is suspected of being an illegal immigrant.
There are 100 Foreigners’ Tribunals across Assam.
The Koch Rajbongshis have a sizeable presence in Assam, West Bengal, Meghalaya, and parts of Bangladesh, Nepal, and Bhutan, and they demand Scheduled Tribe status.
